Preparing to graduate...need opinions

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I will be graduating this fall with a bachelors in Information Technology. I attend a commuter school in the small town of Fort Smith, Arkansas. I DO NOT want to stay here despite pressure to do so.</p>

<p>First, because I live in a small town, I have not had opportunity to gain IT experience during college through internships. Few opportunities existed and the ones that were available were automatically given to relatives of the employers. I have just worked a mindless retail job because that is all I could get.</p>

<p>Second, as I stated in a thread a long time ago about my college life, I am very unhappy in this town and do not wish to continue here in my prime. To be honest, I don't think I could stomach it. </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=278579%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=278579&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I have posted my resume on monster, dice, etc, and am only getting responses from local employers. I have sent out feeler resumes to employers in cities I would like to relocate to, but recieve nothing back. </p>

<p>This has brought some concern to me because there are many who say that employers don't even consider applicants who don't live in the immediate area of the employer. How true is this for a new graduate, and how can I overcome this? Do most people stay in the area where they graduate college? </p>

<p>As I said, I DO NOT wish to stay here and will leave one way or another, but I really hope it doesn't come down to me moving before having secured a job, because that is very risky.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading these concerns and thanks for any replies.</p>

<p>First of all, I'd try to talk to a professor or career adviser at your school to get specific information.</p>

<p>Besides just sending out resumes to companies in other cities, you could go to a big city career fair that has companies you'd be interested in, or try to get in contact with alumni from your school that work somewhere you want to work.</p>

<p>I definitely don't (can't really) stay where I'm graduating because there are no jobs in my field.</p>